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Consolidating a few more news stories that have surfaced over the last few days, it appears that South Africa’s local flyhalf pool has been diminished even further as three more Bok-capped pivots head overseas.

Johan Goosen has finally put pen to paper on a three-year deal that will see him swap the Cheetahs for somewhat more glamorous Parisian side Racing Metro. Joining him in France will be former Bok and Stormers pivot Peter Grant, who is joining newly promoted club La Rochelle.

Lions man Elton Jantjies is also ff – joining NTT in Japan for the Currie Cup season. He will presumably be back for Super Rugby next year, but has already seen provincial team mate Marnitz Boshoff grab his starting spot and his place in the extended Bok group, so any real motivation for Jantjies to return is hard to comprehend at this point.

10 Comments

It is one thing for players either towards the end of their careers, or youngsters who see no opportunity to head overseas. However it is worrying to see a flyhalf that is first choice at his franchise plus being highly rated by the Bok coach opting to go make some Euros.

SARU fights to expand the Super 15, but then at the same time allows the Bok coach to pick overseas players in his squad ahead of local players. The flood gates will open soon, and there will be no-one left to fill these 6 teams.

Comment 1, posted at 12.06.14 07:48:43 by Bokhoring

SA Rugby made a poor decision in retaining Super rugby……the extensive travel is also adding to the exodus as players realise that not only is the money better in Europe and Japan but also the lifestyle….a Northern hemisphere linkup would of at the least allowed Saffas to play against each other and the problems of selecting overseas or local Boks would have been far less .problematic….I sense the Saracens vs Sharks, Bulls and WP is maybe SARU testing the waters…..North was always the Holy Grail for SA rugby, sadly our powers that be are too intellectually challenged to grasp that fact..

Comment 2, posted at 12.06.14 08:00:22 by grant10

If a player leaves because he feels he isn’t good enough right now, that’s okay. I get that players need to think of their future. If you’re not valued by your ‘company’ anymore, then look for better opportunities, but why would you let Goosen leave when you still value him and want him to play for the Boks?

If you have a way of keeping your most valued players/employees. Then you need to do that by any means possible.

Don’t pick players playing overseas.

Comment 3, posted at 12.06.14 08:46:01 by Letgo

Why wouldn’t SA rugby work out a deal with overseas clubs. We have something they want – quality rugby players.

Give all your Boks contracts (Bigger for some and smaller for others), but when they sign the contract, make them commit to Bok rugby.

If they want do a stint with an overseas club, a deal has to be worked out with SA rugbu, the club and the player. SA rugby can ask the club for more than they are currently paying the player (which they will continue to pay even when the player leaves) or the same. This way when the player wants to leave, you can determine the terms. I don’t, for example, think it is always a bad thing for young players to go for 1 – 2 years, to pick up some experience, but make sure that they will come back and play in SA again with that experience.

Of course you can also release a player from his contract if you do not value him anymore, which would mean he understands that aside from being close to his family, or patriotism or any other personal reason, there is no good reason for him to stay in SA (unless he feels he can make his way back into the team).

When the players contract expires, you and the player have the option to renew. He might want more (having tasted the Euro), if you can’t offer him more, he might decide to leave, but with the understanding that he won’t be selected for the Boks, until he returns.

To me, that’s still professional or run like a business. You have to keep your most valued assets. If you can’t pay them more than other countries/ companies, then use what you have to keep them. Smaller businesses might keep valued employees with the prospect of taking over some day (which would mean a higher pay and job security for longer). Why can’t the Boks do this.

The problem is SArugby aren’t being run by good business thinkers. Heyneke should not be allowed to pick overseas players. Sure picking them might make his ‘department’ look good, but it’s not good for the business as a whole and probably not even good for his ‘department’ in the long run.

Comment 4, posted at 12.06.14 08:58:48 by Letgo

It seems we only give and never import any good talent into SA? Why hasn’t SA rugby been buying some hotshots from overseas, oh that’s right because SARU are a bunch of crooks who get rich out of exploiting players and then not honoring their financial commitments.

Comment 5, posted at 12.06.14 09:16:46 by coolfusion

Once the door has been opened for overseas based players to be selected for the Boks, and this is happening more and more, we cant be surprised by players realising that there is nothing keeping them playing here any more

Comment 6, posted at 12.06.14 10:34:09 by stevovo

It will be good for Jantjies to play in Japan and return to the Lions next year. It will give him time to regain some form after the Stormers screwed him up. Also it will give time for youngsters like Willie du Plessis and Jako vd Walt to get some game time in the CC and will in the end improve the Lions deph

Comment 7, posted at 12.06.14 10:39:43 by Mutley

Sorry to say but only Goosen is a loss. Neither of the other two is near Bok selection.

Comment 8, posted at 12.06.14 16:15:24 by JD

@coolfusion (Comment 5) : We do import, but no-one has ever heard of them or they are at the end of their careers.We have had an Argentinian or 3,a couple of Frenchmen (Sharks have been pretty successful with them),an Italian or 2 even a Canadian or 2 & a Georgian (Russian)!
@JD (Comment 8) : Agreed.But JG will not be that missed by Boks because he is apparently made of glass. We should take a leaf out of our arch rival NZ book & manage our players as they should be & not choose OBP full stop. We have a reasonable depth of FH in SA – Lambie,Zeilinga,Pollard,JL Potgieter,Jean-Luc du Plessis even Timo Swiel!

Comment 9, posted at 13.06.14 11:05:50 by markm

@markm (Comment 9) : think it’s easy for NZ to not pick OBP cause they have a continues flow of players from Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, etc. filling up their system. In SA we must grow our own talent and that takes time to replace quality players.